Witch Hunting In Early Modern Europe Flashcards
Why was their a growth of witch-hunting in the 15th century?
With the introduction of the printing press late in the century, pamphlets and an increase in literature transmitted knowledge about demonic witchcraft rapidly
What was the impact of Malleus Maleficarum?
The Malleus Maleficarum (Witches’ Hammer) was the first witchcraft treatise that had a major impact.
First published in 1486 it was reprinted 13 times before 1520 (16 times by 1660).
It was written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Spreger, two Dominican friars.
The book was based on Kramer’s investigations as an Inquisitor for Southern Germany.
The treatise lent a new urgency to eradicating witches who in Kramer’s view were mainly women.
The upsurge of witch trials in the 1490s in Central Europe can be seen as a result of MM.
In Italy however persecutions decreased.
Wolfgang Behringer claims that the years after 1470 were years of crisis due to plagues.
People sought scapegoats so Kramer may have been just playing on people’s fears.
Why was there a major difference between elite and popular views of witchcraft?
The ruling elite believed in the Devil’s Pact more than the illiterate peasantry possibly because the idea was circulated among literature and pamphlets which peasants couldn’t read.
Peasants were more concerned with the potential harm that they, or especially their crops, could receive due to Maleficarum.
When was the main period of witch-hunting and what type of people were usually persecuted?
Some 40,000-50,000 witches, the majority of whom were poor single, women over 50, were executed mainly in the period 1560-1660.
Why can the witch hunts be essentially regarded as a judicial operation?
Brian Levack argues that the witch hunts was essentially a judicial operation.
The majorities of those executed were legally tried and sentenced.
Continental courts tended to concentrate power in the hands of individual judges.
To what extent did torture create witchcraft?
Torture was used on the Continent but very rarely in England.
Confessions under torture confirmed the evidence from witchcraft treatises.
When torture was used the rate of convictions could be as high as 95%.
When it wasn’t used it was below 40%.
Torture ensured that more people were accused as alleged accomplices.
Chain reaction hunts became possible.
What was the impact of the reformation on witch hunting?
The Reformation increased European’s fear of the Devil, which increased fear of witches and urgency to eradicate them.
Protestants tried to eradicate Catholic superstitious beliefs and practices.
This could have led to campaigns against witches.
The Reformation sparked a new determination to create a godly state and there was a new insistence on literal interpretations of the bible.
To what extent did state- building contribute to witch hunting?
In the 16th and 17th centuries, several European states grew in size and power.
Rulers took a heightened interest in religious matters.
The good citizen became the good Christian.
The state assisted and encouraged witch hunting.
Was witch hunting essentially driven from below?
Alan Macfarlane and Keith Thomas held this belief in the 1970s.
Their studies conveyed that witchcraft accusations in England were caused by interpersonal tensions between villagers.
They show that accused witches were usually unpopular, antisocial people, known for begging and cursing those who turned them away.
Far more suspected witches died because of their neighbours’ fear than politically directed hunts.
How important were socio-economic factors in the rise of witch hunting?
Socio-economic changes included:
Population increase (eng doubled from 1540-1660
Rise in prices
Growth in towns
The break in traditional village community
Mini ice age led to demand for scrape goats
The impact of disease
Class conflict
Was witch hunting essentially women hunting?
Women were more likely to be accused for a number of reasons:
Female occupations- being a midwife made women venerable to accusations as women and infants often died during the act. Many women were ‘cunning folk’ who used white magic as healers, which meant they could be easily accused when their clients experienced misfortune. Dairy communities experienced more accusations as women had more autonomy and milk and butter could be easily spoiled
Economic position- women were more likely to be poor which placed them at the margins of society. The historian eve labouvie calculated that 43% of all women accused in Trier belonged to the lowest class of villagers
Believed to be morally weaker- women were seen as morally weaker, supported by the Bible and Malleus Maleficarum which asserted that women were more gullible and prone to infidelity and carnality
challenges/failed expectations of patriarchal society- elderly, single and widowed women were treated with suspicion of being more likely possessed by the devil. 40% of witches accused in Essex between 1560-1680 were single women
Some feminist historians have seen witch hunts as a byproduct of the patriarchy and misogyny. It is unlikely that the witch hunts were created as a direct hate of women, however many accused were threats to the patriarchy. A high proportion of accusers were women but they might have been being victims of patriarchal beliefs.
